NBCUniversal has laid off less than 50 employees across three divisions: Peacock marketing, NBCUniversal Entertainment and ad sales.
The majority of these cuts, approximately 30 to 40, were made at Peacock as part of a restructuring under CMO Shannon Willett, a source within the company told Variety.
The insider says the layoffs are not part of a cost-cutting initiative at the Comcast-owned company, but rather a revamp of the vision for the department that will see Willett fill almost all of these roles with new staffers. The Peacock marketing team is being broken into five business areas under Willett: Brand Creative and Marketing; Title Creative and Marketing; Marketing Strategy, Planning, Analysis and Performance Media; Growth and Lifecycle Marketing; and Publicity, Events and Talent Engagement.
Willett will be looking to fill two key new roles: executive vice president of brand creative and marketing and senior vice president of title creative and marketing.
“We heard from many of you as well as our partners that our structure was complex and are confident that this streamlined approach will help us simplify our processes, accelerate decision making and expose us to a deeper array of marketing skillsets to learn and grow in our careers,” Willett said in a memo to staff announcing the restructuring Thursday.
The remainder of the layoffs were made within Frances Berwick’s NBCUniversal Entertainment team. The source says no high-level positions were vacated as part of these cuts.
In ad sales, the source says three senior roles were vacated, including head of measurement Kelly Abcarian. These exits are not considered layoffs by the company, but are the result of new global chairman Mark Marshall’s changes in the division, including Roku’s Alison Levin being named president of ad sales Wednesday.
See Willett’s memo to staff below.
Hi Everyone,
I’m reaching out today to share an update on the Peacock Marketing organization. Given Peacock’s growth trajectory and the shifting landscape around us, we’ve spent a lot of time over the past year thinking about what we can do as a team to better support the business. Through that process, we recognized an opportunity to reimagine the way we work to drive the next phase of Peacock’s growth. Today we’re announcing an evolved Marketing structure that will enable us to work smarter, bringing more expertise and strategy in-house, and move faster by breaking down silos and deepening collaboration across our team and with our key partners.
Our new organization will be focused on five core pillars, each with a direct impact on business strategy: Brand Creative and Marketing; Title Creative and Marketing; Marketing Strategy, Planning, Analysis and Performance Media; Growth and Lifecycle Marketing; and Publicity, Events and Talent Engagement. We heard from many of you as well as our partners that our structure was complex, and are confident that this streamlined approach will help us simplify our processes, accelerate decision making and expose us to a deeper array of marketing skillsets to learn and grow in our careers.
Here is an overview of our new structure and the five business areas reporting into me:
· Brand Creative and Marketing: This new pillar will be responsible for brand positioning, strategy, and design identity, led by the EVP of Brand Creative and Marketing, a new leadership role for which we are hiring.
· Title Creative and Marketing: This new team will oversee planning and execution for our Peacock scripted, unscripted and film single-title campaigns and will be led by the SVP of Title Creative and Marketing, a new leadership role for which we’re hiring.
· Strategy, Planning, Analysis and Performance Media: Nic Julich will continue to lead this team with a broader scope, focusing on data-informed decisions and testing across the marketing organization, as well as performance media.
· Growth and Lifecycle Marketing: Anna Frost will continue to lead this expanded team, which will serve as the main hub for our ongoing marketing efforts focused on subscriber acquisition, engagement and retention.
· Publicity, Events and Talent Engagement: This team will continue to be led by Shannon Buck, and encompasses series and film publicity, events and talent engagement, all of which remain key drivers of our overall brand and business.
As you may have heard, we have some colleagues leaving the company as a result of this restructure and we have held discussions with these team members today. Additionally, we will also be hiring for key new roles, including at senior levels, to support the newly aligned team.
As we move through this transition, we will continue to share as much as we can about what is changing, how it impacts you and the opportunities we have ahead. Please join me for a virtual Marketing all hands tomorrow at 9:30am PT/12:30pm ET (invite to follow) where I will go through our new structure in more detail. Thank you for joining us and for being part of the next chapter of our Peacock growth story.
Shannon
